Freshman Cannon Murray steps out onto the field on the first day of tryouts. He’s still a freshman and expecting to make JV Boys’ Soccer. Pretty soon he’s being placed with the upperclassmen in drills. Then he gets the news. The coaches want him playing on the Varsity team. He’s careful not to let his teammate’s compliments get to his head, but all the same, it boosts his confidence.

“The feeling of trying to get to the top and then making it, was really just one of the most satisfying things i’ve ever done in my life,” Murray said. “It was an exciting experience for me.”

Growing up, soccer was a big part of Murray’s life. He started playing competitively for club teams since the age of seven. Participating in high school soccer allows him to move the next level of playing while, playing on the Boys’ Varsity Soccer team will be a faster game than he’s used to, his years of experience help him keep up with the older players.

“Cannon is an example of a kid that has a really high soccer IQ,” Head Varsity Coach Larry Scheller said. “He understands the game really really well. He has good technical ability. He’s able to move the ball and pass the ball to the areas that we want and he understands where we want it so that’s the big part the soccer IQ is the biggest thing.”

The soccer team looks forward to a successful season. It’s still early; their next game is against Francis Howell Central on Sept. 20. According to Scheller, it will take working hard and improving with every practice. For Murray, as a young player, that’s what he can provide for his team: effort and growth.

“At this point in the season, we’re not really sure [of Murray’s role on the team], but we don’t bring up freshman to not let them play,” Scheller said. “I see him being on the field a lot. As far as what position he’s going to play, how many minutes, he’s gonna get, it’s way too early to tell for those things. The only real role that he has is that, when we comes out to play, giving as much as he can.”

As a freshman playing on varsity, he has a high potential for growth over this season as well as the rest of his soccer career at FHN. He has a good opportunity for long term improvement. Playing against older players means a rougher, more physical game for Murray, still, playing with mostly upperclassmen is an experience that he looks forward to.

“I was pretty excited to make varsity, because my brother’s a junior and I’ve wanted to play with him for two years, and we’ve never really played on the same team,” Murray said. “I thought I was never gonna have the chance to play with [the current seniors], but now that I made varsity [I can]. It’s not even like I’m a freshman, I feel. I don’t know about them, I kinda fit in, I’m kinda just like the younger brother of the team, it’s just a fun experience to me.”